The Super Who Had No Choice
by RedHood001
Summary: "Destiny is not a matter of chance, it is a matter of choice. It is not a thing to be waited for, it is a thing to be achieved." Whoever said that clearly never walked in Buddy's shoes. And he didn't even have to wait. Everything just comes crashing down. Just like how it's always been.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: I mean what were you expecting? The sequel got me all hyped up and entertained at a time of exams…yeah, college is nuts. Also, I apologize for the severe writer's block from my other stories. It's just…weird. College is taking up more of my time than I ever expected. The stress, homework, and all that are taking a toll on me emotionally and physically.**

 **My mind just can't seem to focus on one fandom.**

 **Oh but side note, there are few elements in this story here from other movies/tv shows/and maybe games. Easter eggs if you will.**

 **Enjoy!**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own The Incredibles. As if that wasn't obvious.**

* * *

 ** _"-om-"_**

 ** _"Plea-"_**

 ** _"Mo-"_**

 ** _"-only wanted to he-"_**

 ** _"-lp her, plea-"_**

 ** _"-ore me ap-"_**

 ** _"-do this all da-"_**

 ** _"-ERE ARE TH-"_**

 ** _"They wi-"_**

 ** _"Bu-"_**

 ** _"-pay!"_**

 ** _"-give me a chan-"_**

 ** _"Incredib-"_**

 ** _"-ndro-"_**

 ** _"Shhh-"_**

 ** _"-gonna be-"_**

 ** _"-precious lit-"_**

 ** _"-ame is not BUDDY!"_**

 **X**

A pair of bright electric blue eyes snapped open at the sound of a whistle echoing in the distance near his seated position. He reached into his grey belt and pulled out a pair of customized high-tech binoculars.

He could see a track race happening at the Metroville Stadium from the building rooftop near the stadium. Even from there he could hear the faint cheers happening in his line of sights. Then his communicator beeped.

Buddy didn't waste any time with the pleasantries, immediately pressing the button of the device on his right ear.

 _"Enjoying the show up there?"_

He let out a sigh, clearly annoyed at the voice calling him. "No. Remind me again why I'm doing this, Dicker?"

 _"Well as I recall, the NSA found you all alone with no money, no gadgets, a different face, physically enhanced, seemingly younger, and need I remind you that technically you are doing this for your own good?"_

Buddy had a deadpanned face that he was sure Rick Dicker could see from wherever he was hiding. "...Are you done? Because I don't see the point of this mission, in all honesty. I just have to monitor the family and report their activities."

The line went quiet for a few moments, as if Dicker was waiting for Buddy to say anything else.

 _"And?"_

Buddy sighed in annoyance. "...You're gonna make me say it?"

 _"You know the answer to that."_

Running a hand to his face, he replied with gritted teeth. "Interact with them."

 _"Exactly. I just want to make sure you understand the full assignment. The NSA barely managed to convince the government to let you do this particular mission and with what we barely got, you can't exactly refuse, otherwise it'll be either foster care or an intense government facility. Same as any other mission."_ Dicker stated.

Buddy blinked. "...The first option still exists?"

 _"Not for long, but you'd do well to avoid the second one."_ Dicker explained.

"Of course, because I definitely want to be a lab rat for some scientists who don't even know how anything was able to regenerate my severely broken body and turn it into that of a 15-year-old with ridiculous enhancements." Buddy replied.

 _"You are the super genius. Also, I would like to point out that this mission will be good for you. After the past two months of fighting and doing dirty works, don't you think it's time to focus on something for yourself?"_ Dicker added.

"Really?" Buddy told in annoyance while gesturing in the direction of the stadium, where the individuals in question were at the moment. He knew Dicker could see him.

 _"Burying the hatchet would be a nice change for you. One chance, that's all I'm asking."_

"My mission briefing said only to interact with them, it didn't say anything about burying any hatchet."

 _"Well, wouldn't that be a good thing to accomplish?"_

"Why is this suddenly so important to you?" Buddy asked in frustration and a hint of curiosity.

 _"This is a step in the right direction and now is a good time to try and make some changes for yourself. Amanda would agree."_

Buddy's face turned blank.

Of course Amanda would agree, the woman had been the only person other than Dicker who actually treated him like a child, despite his mental knowledge. She had always tried to be a mentor figure from the beginning of his 'career' as one would say despite working as a government representative in charge of keeping an eye on him. Dicker had actually agreed with full confidence to have her as Buddy's supervisor, immediately making the de-aged genius aware of the fact that the woman had a certain quality that made Dicker confident that she was the perfect woman for the job.

Currently she was busy with her own business. What the business entailed was unknown to him, but he didn't particularly care at the moment.

Noticing his silence, Dicker continued. _"_ _T_ _hey might surprise you. Until next time."_

Buddy was about to end the call before Dicker interrupted. _"_ Oh, _almost forgot. Amanda wanted me to make sure you stay out of trouble. At least, more than usual. Stay safe, Buddy."_

Buddy's eyes widened for a moment before he pressed his communicator, ending the call.

He let his hand drop back to the binoculars. He could do well enough without the attention he was being given by the two adults. Buddy was still a bit annoyed at being treated as a kid, despite his condition.

'Stupid serum, making my life more complicated than it already is.' He thought in annoyance. He didn't care how childish that sounded in his head.

Buddy had simply given up on a proper name for the liquid substance that he knew he had inside his body not long after getting caught in the turbine of his own plane. Not even his zero-point energy had been enough to save him. It had stopped the turbine from making a few serious injuries to his body but even that hadn't been enough.

He should've been gone that day.

Now he was de-aged to a 15-year-old kid with a slightly new face, judging by the more round shaped head, along with a slightly lean build he knew he didn't have when he was that age... before. His hair was still the same red as it had been when he was still an adult. Though it was less of a mane with it being shorter and more wild.

So being a minor, only in appearance and also enhanced but still a minor, he had been given three options. Two of them already mentioned by Dicker. The last one involved him working for the government in keeping the city under control. Or to put it bluntly, keep an eye on the city for any trouble and report back to the higher-ups. If it needs to be dealt with then he's on it, less financial damages than normal supers (the more destructive ones, at least), effective and efficient, get caught and they will deny any relations. His identity was concealed, only Dicker and Amanda knew who he truly was along with a few who found him until their memories had been erased by Dicker.

Standard protocol, Rick had said. While his enhancements aren't that big of a deal like common supers, apparently to Rick it still counted him as a super. Or that had been what Buddy concluded.

Rick's words were more along the lines of 'his high level intelligence and newly developed enhancements will make him useful' although Buddy honestly doubted that.

In all seriousness, he had expected some form of a cruel punishment awaiting him after he had healed. Because he had killed the supers his previous omnidroids had defeated, they should have known about that. Instead they had decided to let him go and be more useful. A 'hero' in Dicker's words, since Buddy was technically a super.

That was already a punishment in his eyes.

Years ago, he would've been happy to be considered a superhero. Now he hated being one. Which was ironic. A super who works in secret for the same government that made the law to ban his 'kind'.

Huh. An irony within an irony.

'Monologue on life later, monitor the family now.' He internally scolded himself.

 **X**

Dash had come close second in his track finals.

It was a wonderful achievement, one which Dash cherished immediately. Sure he wasn't the winner but he didn't care. He participated in a sports event. That alone made him very happy. He might not admit it, but he was also happy seeing the proud faces of his family. Even Violet was cheering for him. It felt awesome.

Violet, herself, was feeling quite elevated as well. She had, after all, been asked out by Tony Rydinger. Sure he had been stuttering but the intentions were clear and it was honestly adorable. But she could contain her excitement for now to focus on something else. Like her brother's achievement. Because despite being an annoying insect at times, Violet Parr cared for her brother like any sibling would. She was feeling quite proud of seeing him holding that trophy, though she wouldn't admit it to him.

As for Bob and Helen, well of course they would be happy for their son. Bob had been ecstatic after Helen had allowed Dash to compete. The woman had honestly been a bit too frightened to let her son go out for sports. Her reasons did make sense, Bob would admit. Dash could have revealed his powers by accident at any time with the many trips to the principal's office not helping his wife's paranoia.

But now he saw that Helen was happy with how much Dash was exceeding their expectations. And the look of pure joy on her face was contagious.

In that moment, all Bob could think about was, 'This day can't get any better.'

 **X**

'This day can't get any worse.' Buddy thought with a clenched fist as he watched the Parr family happily walking at the parking lot.

He shouldn't feel anything. He didn't feel anything.

He was feeling something.

Buddy stood at the edge of the building, looking away from the direction he saw the Parr family. He wasn't envious. The looks Robert and Helen were giving the kid. He had seen them before.

'NO!' Buddy jerked his head to the side while clenching his eyes shut.

'No, no, no, n-'

 **X**

 _ **"Oh, Buddy! That's amazing!" A woman with blonde hair and blue eyes said. She was wearing a yellow sweater and navy blue pants. Her face was showing a look of amazement.**_

 _ **"You think so?" A young Buddy said with joy.**_

 _ **"Absolutely, my boy genius." The woman said.**_

 ** _"Thanks, Mom!" He excitedly said in his makeshift superhero suit, as his rocket boots turned on and he glided to her, giving her a big hug. The woman warmly laughed._**

 **X**

He felt something wet running down his face.

It took some effort to open his clenched eyes. When he did, he felt more water running down his face. Another thing he noticed was that he had his hands outstretched. As if he was reaching for something.

Buddy couldn't think of anything else other than why his head was shaking... wait a minute.

That wasn't his head, that was the ground shaking. And he could hear the groans of something moving under it, even from the top of the building he was on.

It must have took him a while before he could think properly because when he turned around, he saw...

'What the heck?' He thought in utter bewilderment.

 **X**

Well... none of them were expecting this.

Violet stared at the... gigantic drilling machine that had appeared, while she ran with her family wearing their super suits. Even Jack-Jack was wearing one.

But while she was following her family she noticed something in the distance behind the Underminer. It was small, but that was probably from the long distance. It disappeared as soon as she blinked. It had looked like the silhouette of a person.

They stopped at a slightly close distance to the drill. "You two stay here." Bob immediately said to Violet and Dash.

Helen, however, hesitated while holding Jack-Jack in her arms. "Wait, should we be doing this? It is still illegal."

Her mother had a point. There was a possibility they could get arrested by the authorities. Although, judging by the sheer size of the drill tank the Underminer had, Violet doubted the police would be able to keep the situation under control. Said tank was drilling itself back underground, shortening their time to make a decision.

"We're gonna lose him." Bob urgently said to them while gesturing to the metal behemoth that was moving quicker than they expected.

"Oh alright." Helen gently replied to her husband as she turned around and put her youngest son on the stroller that Violet had pushed on the way. Immediately, as if a switch was flipped, she was in business.

"One of you control the perimeter. Keep the crowds back and safe." She ordered to the older siblings. "The other one look after Jack-Jack." She finished, pointing towards her youngest child on the stroller, before immediately running towards the drill.

"But I thought we were gonna go with-" Violet started saying before her father interrupted her. "You heard your mother!"

Violet stood by and watched with her brothers as their mother made herself into a trampoline, which Bob then jumped towards and bounced to the top of the drill as it went further underground.

The eldest Parr sibling felt annoyed at being left out by her parents. She wanted to join in on the action too. Then her mood was made even worse when her brother suddenly spoke.

"I call the perimeter. Woo hoo!" Dash said mockingly as he ran away. Violet immediately tried to stop him.

"You aren't going anywhere!" She said as she tried to trap Dash using her shield, thrice. Of course, she failed. "Come back here, twerp!"

Her calls were unanswered, obviously, and she immediately became angry. Violet blamed the frustration because she started ranting loudly, stomping the ground and did the most idiotic thing. She threw down her mask.

Violet hadn't noticed the person behind her. Turning around in frustration, she immediately saw him. And her eyes went wide.

Tony Rydinger was staring at her in shock. His jaw practically dropped.

Of course it was him of all people.

"OH! Tony!" She said in shock, making Jack-Jack peek curiously from his stroller, before waving awkwardly. "Hi, uh. Well, uh, this isn't what you think it is." She started to explain but Tony hastily walked back as she started moving towards him, bumping a car behind him before turning and running away. Violet could only stare at Tony's disappearing figure with a sad look on her face.

"Buh." Jack-Jack suddenly said, gesturing towards something.

Violet, despite feeling rather heartbroken, curiously glanced at her baby brother. "What's the matter, Jack-Jack?"

She looked towards the direction he was gesturing and saw someone, wearing what looked to be a super suit, standing near the tunnel created by the drill. Whoever the individual was had his or her hand on his or her right ear. Suddenly the figure turned towards them.

Violet saw a flash of red hair and thought it was her mother but immediately stopped her train of thought. The red hair was a bit brighter than her mother's, and the figure was clearly a male. Added to the fact that he was wearing a suit with a grey torso vest that reached his waistline. The leggings and the arms of his suit were dark grey except for his black boots that reached almost below his knees and black gloves that reached his forearms. He also had a belt that was black with golden outlines. Another thing she noticed were the four silver fasteners. Three on his vest and one slightly below his collarbone that seemed to be holding his black cape, despite the fact that it was attached to a high collar on his neck.

The stranger's face, while different, oddly looked familiar. Strangely enough, the domino mask and blue eyes only seemed to add the familiarity.

Suddenly, a cloud of dust appeared a few blocks away from the stadium. Seeing the possible chaos happening elsewhere, Dash told the civilians near him to stay back before running towards the action.

Violet watched her little brother run off by himself towards possible danger. Even though her mom and dad were probably there, there was no way she was going to stay behind and let them get hurt. Her defensive powers might come in handy.

Of course, that didn't stop her from venting as she pushed the stroller and broke into a run, "You're not sticking me with babysitting!"

Violet decided to ignore the masked stranger while Jack-Jack clapped happily as he was being strolled at a fast pace. The baby slightly paused at seeing the caped figure suddenly pulling out a gun that shot a line towards a building. The figure's gun line then launched him slightly towards the building, before he swung towards the chaos happening a few blocks away. Jack-Jack only watched the figure with interest, "Buh."

 **X**

Dash ran for a couple of minutes before seeing the drill vehicle in the distance. He could see Frozone, or Lucius Best as he was known by the family, in the distance helping a monorail train move safely away from the direction of the drill as its tracks had been destroyed by it.

He saw his father jumped down from the top of the vehicle and pushed it away from a building. A car was suddenly thrown away by the back drill.

Oh boy.

"Hey, lady!" He yelled.

Dash zoomed in on an elderly woman, almost too late to move her out of the way of the thrown car. He sighed in relief and fixed the lady's glasses.

"Thank you, young man." The woman said, before they suddenly saw another car coming towards them. This one too close for Dash to avoid.

'Uh oh.' Dash thought and mentally scolded himself for not taking the woman farther away.

Of course, he was suddenly shocked when a white-blue light of energy suddenly shot into the car and seemed to hold it in place.

Dash knew that energy type anywhere.

He turned quickly turned around, eyes suddenly fearful of what he would find. Sure enough, the speedster was right in his assumptions as he saw the source of the energy. Despite wearing a different suit, the face was agonizingly familiar, while also being different. The villain stood with his black-gloved finger pointing at the car, as if not noticing Dash's eyes on him.

"Syndrome?" Dash said in shock, unintentionally speaking out loud.

Buddy's eyes turned towards the kid, before he moved the car away from Dash and the woman he had saved.

"Thank you kindly, young man." The woman said with a smile.

Buddy turned towards the woman, his face unreadable. He spoke, in a voice Dash knew all too well. "Get inside, ma'am. It's not safe."

That was all Buddy said before he took off to the drill that was moving towards the overpass road, seemingly uncaring of Dash's lingering eyes on him. Said speedster was having a hard time getting out of his trance.

Until he decided to pinch himself.

'Not a dream.' Dash thought, still in shock. He then heard a baby sound and turned.

Jack-Jack's stroller appeared from behind the car that had been thrown, seemingly moving by itself before stopping in front of Dash. Jack-Jack seemed to float and moved towards Dash's arms. "What?" He whined, before suddenly realizing who it was.

"VIOLET!" Dash yelled, turning around while being careful with Jack-Jack in his arms.

Sure enough, a cloud of dust was seemingly pushed, creating a humanoid shape, before Violet appeared visible again, running towards the drill with a determined look in her eyes.

Dash suddenly remembered something. "Violet! Wait!" He yelled in fear.

His sister was heading towards the direction Syndrome had gone to. Dash ran towards her, being careful with his speed as to not accidentally hurt Jack-Jack. He didn't know what the deal with Syndrome was but Dash wasn't sure he wanted to find out.

 **X**

Bob was having a very hard time trying to stop the drill. He had tried to stop it from the front of the drill treads but ended up getting crushed underneath it. His suit was now slightly covered in dirt but overall he was still intact.

Now Bob was trying to pull one of the drill treads from behind it, unsuccessful in stopping its movements. His feets

Noticing this from the top, Helen jumped towards the overpass. She stretched her arms towards the lamp post and pulled herself upwards. She landed in the middle of the traffic.

Seeing as the drill wasn't going to slow down, Helen quickly decided to stop the vehicles. She stretched her arms to both sides of the road.

"STOP!" She yelled to her left. "EVERYBODY STOP!" She yelled to her right.

As the vehicles stopped completely, safe from the middle of the overpass and from the drill's path, Helen turned her head to the drill, arms still outstretched. The drill wasn't slowing down.

At the bottom, Bob was still trying to pull one of the treads with no success. The super gritted his teeth, struggling so much his feet was practically destroying the pavement. The drill wasn't slowing down, until Bob felt himself being dragged slower than before. Confused by the change of pace, the blond super opened his eyes and noticed a glow of light behind him. Bob turned his head in suspicion. That glow looked familiar.

So was that red hair.

* * *

 **A/N: I have something in mind for the suit.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I do not own The Incredibles. As if that wasn't obvious.**

 **I edited the first chapter because there were some errors and there were plot details that I needed to change. Also, at a certain part of this chapter imagine Captain-America-Infinity-War-style running (I think you'll know which moment).**

* * *

The Zero-point energy beams coming from his opened hands were just prototypes that had only been tested once. Not even that long ago he had categorized them as a last resort. The problem was that the things he had used to test them weren't as big as the Underminer's drill.

The zero-point energy could only cover half the vehicle, and even then his could tell by how his gauntlets were going down quicker than he expected.

'Four minutes at least.' He theorized. It could be sooner and he wasn't taking any chances.

"SOMEONE NEEDS TO GET INSIDE THIS THING AND SHUT DOWN THE CONTROLS!" Buddy shouted, hoping one of the supers heard him. Despite his reluctance, the threat needed to be dealt with quickly.

Bob snapped out of his shock and noticed the machine starting to speed up again. "THE CONTROLS ARE DAMAGED!"

"THEN BLOW UP THE ENGINE!" Buddy frustratingly yelled back.

"THE EXPLOSION COULD DESTROY THE BUILDINGS AROUND IT!" Helen yelled in concern, having heard the conversation.

"THE THICK ARMOR WILL TAKE MOST OF THE DAMAGE!" Buddy shouted, knowing they didn't have enough time to come up with anything else. The stress was beginning to take its toll on him, much to his chagrin (and slight bewilderment).

The former villain's gauntlets suddenly began to flicker before sparks appeared, immediately followed by an outburst of energy that stunned Buddy to the ground.

'No, no, not now.' Buddy thought in fear.

Immediately the drill resumed its path. Seeing this, Helen stretched her arm and swung from the lamp post on her right to another as the drill continued forth and destroyed the overpass. Her reflexes kicked in as she saw a car tipped and fell from the overpass, immediately saving the woman inside the falling vehicle.

Now on the verge of panic, Buddy immediately got up and ran at his full speed. He needed to find a ladder or something to climb on to the machine. He wished the NSA had let him make new rocket boots because the grapnel gun wouldn't be able to penetrate the thick metal, and time was not on his side.

He noticed a few debris from the concrete of the overpass dropping unto civilians.

Buddy shot a few energy blasts towards the fallen rocks, also noticing a pair of distorted light-purple waves of energy colliding with his energy blast, effectively destroying the falling concretes. They also made a shockwave of blue and purple energy.

While he had little time to ponder about what just happened, he mentally noted how the shockwave must have been the result of the energy collision. His brain had the strangest timing when it comes to noticing details and theorizing their causes in random. And he had an idea as to what caused the appearance of the purple energy.

Shaking his thoughts away, the intellectual genius immediately sprinted towards the drill.

 **X**

From where he was running, Mr. Incredible noticed how Buddy was moving quicker than normal. While still slower than his son, Bob knew the pace Buddy was making was not something a normal person could do. With plenty of training, professional athletes might be able to sprint that fast, but the distance was often short before they would get tired or out of breath. Buddy, on the other hand, was making short distance towards the drill with no sign of fatigue.

Reminding himself to stop the drill, Bob looked around for anything he could use to jam the drill tread on his side. Just then, a lamp post that still had a piece of concrete attached fell near him. Immediately letting go of the tread, Bob lifted the metal post and stick it between the iron wheels of the tread. The tread ceased moving as the metal post created a few sparks.

It seemed to have worked as Bob gave a triumphant laugh. Until it was moved by the wheels' greater force, crushing the concrete it was attached to. The pieces of the rubble were thrown from the crush, causing Bob to shield himself from the dust and rock.

"I'll be back in a second, Dad!"

Bob noticed a weight in his right arm and saw Jack-Jack. The baby was just looking at him with a smile, as if unfazed of being carried at super speed.

"Dash!"

Bob saw his son running further away, ignoring his call, before noticing something from the corner of his eye. Looking to his left, Bob saw his daughter glancing at him while running close to the drill.

"VIOLET!" Helen yelled while still hanging on the lamp post. "WHO'S WATCHING JACK-JACK?!"

"DASH IS WATCHING HIM!" Violet yelled back to her mother, not noticing her father moving towards her.

"Violet! Here, you take him!"

The teen super felt something being handed to her and realized it was her baby brother when he squealed in joy as if he was happy at being passed around.

Speaking of which, she noticed her 10-year-old brother in the distance running towards a familiar figure. It was the same guy she saw at the parking lot. She immediately saw her brother practically slamming his body to the mystery man, and suddenly her pace momentarily paused.

'Oh.'

 **X**

'I don't have time for this!' Buddy thought in annoyance, having been tackled to the ground by the young speedster.

Dash was conflicted, on the one hand the drill was still moving fast, but on the other Syndrome was here. His family's arch-enemy. That couldn't be a coincidence, but seeing the annoyed yet also panicked look the older boy (he was only a bit taller than Violet now) made Dash doubted his deduction. Yet there was no time to contemplate as Syndrome (he may have a new suit but he was still Syndrome, right?) suddenly went wide eyed, looking far ahead.

Dash turned and saw why.

"It's headed for City Hall!" Dash heard his father yell, before he saw Syndrome sprinting towards a set of metal ladders on the side of the drill.

Dash moved to follow him but not before the (former?) villain practically leaped to the top halfway from the ladder. The 10-year-old wondered how he was able to do that. Thinking quickly, he decided to contemplate later as he followed his father and sister, who was carrying Jack-Jack. As they neared the ladder, Dash noticed his mother swinging towards the top of the machine.

While Syndrome was trying to stop the drill, Dash still didn't know if he was on their side. So he couldn't help but be concerned. "Mom needs help!"

Dash grabbed his father's arm as he was lifted to the ladder. As he and his family reached the top opening, Dash saw Frozone making his signature icy path over the machine. He was about to yell the older super's name before facepalming as he remembered. 'Secret identity, Dash. Do you want to ruin Lucius' life?' He scolded himself.

"FROZONE! TRY TO FIND A WAY TO SLOW THIS THING! MOM AND DAD ARE INSIDE TRYING TO TURN IT OFF!"

"GOT IT!" The Super sent him a thumbs up as he slid beside the dril and froze one of the treads. Noticing how close the metal giant was to the City Hall, Frozone quickly reached to the front of the drill and build a pillar of ice that lifted the drill, making the sharp tip point upwards, avoiding the building.

 **X**

Meanwhile in the machine, Helen was stretching herself to pull the boiler. While Buddy, who had come inside first, had fired his grapple gun and jammed it into the gears, which was pulling the boiler with as well while he ran around the room pulling apart parts with surprising ease as if he had built the machine.

Bob, who had come inside not long after, was helping his wife, pushing the boiler. The metal container eventually gave in and fell, spilling green fuel all over the metal floor.

Helen let go of the gear and stood beside her husband, looking at the fallen boiler. "That should do it." She told Bob, knowing it would cause an explosion powerful enough to shutdown the machine.

They began to move towards the exit hatch, before Bob noticed Buddy moving quickly in their direction, or rather the direction of the exit. "Buddy!" He called.

"Not now, Incredible!" The seemingly younger boy barked, knowing the limited time they had before the explosion. But Bob and his wife were surprised when they saw that Buddy had ran towards them and was pushing them forward, moving them faster.

They were approaching the stairs when they noticed Dash and Violet coming down, the latter carrying Jack-Jack. "ARE YOU SERIOUS?!" Buddy yelled incredulously. Helen immediately reacted in fear.

"WHAT ARE YOU KIDS DOING?" She yelled. "GET OUT OF HERE! THIS THING'S GONNA BLOW!" She motioned them away, looking at the pressure ports that were increasing rapidly.

Violet immediately moved in front of her mother, giving Jack-Jack. "THERE'S NO TIME!" She turned around, seeing the engines that were going to blow.

Thinking fast, Violet made a force-field covering her family. The force of the blast pushed the distorted purple barrier, but it stayed strong, before she and her family grunted as the ball stumbled to the iron wall as the entire drill fell. After a few seconds, it stopped.

As the ball of energy rolled slightly, it disappeared as Violet smiled knowing her plan had worked. Bob and Helen chuckled in relief. "WE DID IT!" Dash cheered.

Then as if a light switch had turned, the 10-year-old remembered something "Wait, where's Syndrome?"

Bob immediately went wide-eyed and looked around, noticing the younger man (boy?) missing. His family noticed it too.

As they all looked around with no success at finding Buddy, Violet immediately began to feel a little sick, worsening from the exhaustion of using her powers. She made sure her force-field covered her family, but she didn't know if it had protected Syndrome. While he had been her family's enemy, the thought of him dying because of her was enough to make her-

The opening hatch above them suddenly opened and Bob was suddenly thrown out by a blue light. 'Zero-Point Energy.' Was the thought that came to their minds before Helen was also pulled out with Jack-Jack in her arms. The same happened for Dash and Violet too quickly for them to react.

Landing gently outside, which was surprising, they looked around and noticed the source of their worry in front of them. His face slightly covered in soot, messy red hair, and his torn and slight burned cape moving slightly from the slight breeze.

"Get out of here now. The police are coming." Buddy said, before he was suddenly yanked back by, surprise-surprise, Mr. Incredible himself.

"Wait just a minute. What are you doing here? How are you alive?" Bob asked, seemingly uncaring of the police vehicles that were stopping near the drill. Helen noticed them first.

"Uh, Bob-"

"FREEZE, SUPERS!" Bob looked around him and saw a dozen police officers pointing their guns at him and his family. "Oooh, what did we do?" He asked, before he suddenly felt his hand being hit.

Buddy immediately detonated a smoke bomb. Knowing the police might fire, Violet made another force-field covering her family. She had a feeling Syndrome was attempting to escape but she had her family to worry about.

True to her instincts, the officers fired their guns but as the smoke started to clear Violet noticed the sound of fighting before she suddenly saw the police officers being thrown to the ground, knocked out cold.

As the smoke disappeared, she saw Buddy knocking one officer after another. He was moving fast, evading hits and gun shots, though Violet noticed how he would either disarmed them first or made sure to point their fire upwards, as if trying to avoid hitting any of them. He was throwing punches and kicks that clearly weren't random, not enough to badly injure but enough to render the officers unconscious.

More than a dozen unconscious bodies fell, Violet noticed.

As the fight escalated Helen reached her arm and grabbed Buddy's torso, effectively holding him. He turned to them in confusion, and a hint of annoyance. "What are you doing?"

"Stop. You're making it worse." Helen replied.

"Let go." Buddy growled.

Helen only stared at him in hesitation. She was conflicted with the situation. Buddy had been her family's enemy, he could still be an enemy. But that wouldn't explain why he had tried to save them back inside the drill. Not to mention he had tried to help them near the overpass.

"Was the Underminer working with you?" Bob asked out of the blue, making Buddy looked at him incredulously.

"What?! No!" Buddy replied.

"Well, we still can't let you just walk away." Bob said with a frown. Buddy face-palmed in frustration before he noticed the remaining officers preparing to open fire, slightly shaking in fear. Carefully, he aimed to fire at the ground near them.

Before any of the Incredibles could react, Buddy froze as a familiar voice called out. "BUDDY!"

Helen looked beside the drill and saw none other than Rick Dicker himself. "Stand down!"

Buddy was reluctant to obey. "Stand down, now!"

To their shock the young man lowered his arm and closed his eyes, sighing in surrender.

"Rick?" Bob asked in confusion, having noticed the exchange.

The NSA Agent looked to his friend, before sighing as he noticed the police officers that were still conscious pointing their weapons at the super family, albeit shakingly.

 **X**

'I'm gonna punch someone.' Was the thought running through Buddy Pine's head as he sat beside Elastigirl and Mr. Incredible, with the latter two being yelled at by two officers. A few months prior he would've been happy to see the cause of his torments being reduced to this, but knowing what he did now only made him angry. After all, he knew the hypocrisy of what they were saying even if they didn't know the truth.

He was also the only one out of the three wearing handcuffs.

"We didn't start this fight." Buddy heard Bob argued.

"Well you didn't FINISH it either." The officer sitting down replied, before his partner asked. "Did you stop the Underminer from inflicting more damage?"

"No." Bob replied, his argument starting to fade.

"Did you stop him from robbing the bank?"

"No." Buddy swore he heard Bob's voice sounding defeated, as he looked at the man with a raised eyebrow.

"Did you CATCH him?" The officer raised his voice.

"NO." Bob answered in anger, not that Buddy could blame him.

Even he was on the brink of losing his temper and he wasn't the one being interrogated. He blamed it on his teenage body.

Buddy would never say it but throughout the interrogation, or the officers' rant as it should be called, he wished he was like Elastigirl, who had been sitting patiently with her arms crossed. Although the look on her face speaks for itself. He almost wanted to tell the officers to shut up but decided against it. He was in enough trouble already.

While Helen had a look of stubborn defiance in her eyes, Buddy looked like, fittingly, a bitter child who failed to achieve a good grade.

"The banks were insured. We have infrastructures in place to deal with these matters." The sitting agent explained as his partner paced behind him. "If you had simply done _nothing_ , everything would now be proceeding in an orderly fashion." He finished with closing the file on the table.

Before he put another in its place. 'Here we go.' Buddy thought.

"And now for you." The pacing officer pointed towards Buddy, immediately catching Bob and Helen's attention.

If Buddy had to put what happened next into words, well... he really hated being super.

 **X**

It was silence in the black armored NSA van. Buddy welcomed it as he sat on the front wearing black pants and a gray buttoned up shirt with his sleeves rolled his elbows. Comfortable civilian clothing. He never thought he would be glad to wear them. Oh and did he mention the fact that he was STILL in handcuffs?

"Well that went poorly." Buddy couldn't believe he was actually agreeing to the man he had grown to hate.

Immediately, he drowned out the conversation happening in the back, instead looking out at the window. The city looked almost peaceful in his eyes with the sun setting down in the distance.

'What a day to be alive.' He thought, tired of all the things that had happened.

No matter how much Buddy despised Robert 'Bob' Parr, Mr. Incredible, he could never admit the fact that he was also jealous of how well his former hero's life had turned out. He didn't think Bob would last more than a week if he had to endure the things Buddy had experienced. The pain he felt when he had watched the man walk with his family with such happiness was a constant reminder.

"You know what'll happen, don't you?" Rick asked, sitting comfortably between the boy and the driver. If Buddy had still been in his adult body, he would have been forced to sit with the Parrs. And that was definitely a good idea.

Note the sarcasm.

"Sure. Solitary confinement and constant experiments with potentially lethal outcomes. You think I didn't read the contract?" Buddy remarked.

He wasn't looking forward to it, but at least he would be alone. The scientists wouldn't need to interact with him, only study his physiology. If he felt like it, Buddy might even consider helping them in the process. At least it'll give him something to do as he wait for the Grim Reaper to take him.

"There is still another option." Dicker began.

"There is no other 'option'." Buddy shot.

The older man looked at him as if he cared for his well being. Buddy tried to make it easier for the man. It was better for him to be left in the dark about how Buddy would most likely miss him.

Buddy couldn't believe the thought but damn he was going to miss Dicker. How he had grown attached to the older man in just three months was beyond his mind's comprehension, much to his horror. Because it meant he was vulnerable. Vulnerable to attachments, which meant that he could be exploited. And that was unacceptable.

Dicker smiled suddenly. "Don't worry, Buddy. You're gonna be in good hands. Trust me on that."

He said the words with such certainty, Buddy almost felt the horrifying spark of hope inside him. Almost.

"What are you talking about?" Buddy dared himself to ask.

"You'll see. Mrs. Walker already prepared everything. It was supposed to be a surprise for you after this was over."

'Amanda?' Buddy thought in confusion.

Before he could ask, Dicker instructed the driver to turn left and park, indicating their arrival.

Buddy heard the shuffling at the back, meaning that this was the place the Parr family were staying.

'Safari Court Motel.' Buddy read. It was nothing like the Parr's old house, unsurprisingly, and yet he still imagined how comfortable the room would be compared to his cell.

Yes, 'cell', because that was what his room basically was. Despite Dicker's, along with Amanda's, protest, his living arrangements had been dealt by Buddy's superiors. Meaning that they hadn't made it easy for him. He couldn't blame them. He had been the CEO of a company that sold weapons to many people, despite his younger state.

Buddy would have said 'child abuse' at their treatment but it wasn't as if he was blameless.

"Hey, Rick." Buddy looked out and saw Bob looking at the man beside the young super with a concerned face. "Violet thinks a friend of hers, a kid named Tony, might have seen her in the outfit without her mask."

'How could THAT have happened?' Buddy couldn't help but glance at the raven-haired girl, standing next to her mother, holding her baby brother with care. From what he knew, after his recovery, Violet Parr seemed like the last person he would expect to have their identity discovered. Her powers involved INVISIBILITY for crying out loud.

"Talkative type?" Dicker plainly asked, pulling out his notebook.

"Don't know." Bob answered. "Last name is Rydinger."

"Tony Rydinger." Dicker muttered as he wrote the name, before finishing with a click of his pen. "I'll check it out."

Bob nodded and was about to leave before Dicker opened the door, catching the former's attention, along with his wife. Buddy wondered why he was suddenly exposed to their line of sights, before Dicker gently pushed him out of the van and closed the door on him.

Buddy suddenly had a suspicion that he was being thrown to the wolves.

"Bob, Helen, a word if you don't mind."

The couple approached Dicker, while Buddy discreetly moved slightly away, curious as to what Dicker was up to.

The man's sigh suddenly gave him an aged look. "The program's been shut down."

The Superhero Reloca- oh who was Buddy kidding, of course that's the program Dicker was talking about.

"What?!" Bob exclaimed, while Buddy noticed his wife blinked in shock. To be fair, Buddy was no better.

"Politicians don't understand people who do good simply because it's right, makes 'em nervous." Dicker added with a smirk. "They've been gunning for supers for years. Today was all they needed."

Bob and Helen looked at each other in concern. "Anyway, I'm done. I'm afraid two more weeks in the motel is the best I can do for ya. It ain't much-"

"You've done plenty, Rick." Helen said as she hugged the older man.

"We won't forget it." Bob added with a smile.

"That's it?" The couple looked down at the boy who could have been no more than their daughter's age, physically. "You're done, just like that? What, it's not enough that I had to do the jobs they gave me? They're just gonna leave the supers under a rug?"

Dicker had a small smile in his face, knowing what Buddy meant. "You've been working for them on their terms. They thought you should have been tested in a lab, but I managed to convince them otherwise. But now, they're eliminating the obstacle. They almost had you, y'know?"

Buddy blinked in surprise. "What do you mean 'almost'?"

At his question, Dicker turned to the couple. They've been paying attention to the conversation. "Buddy will be placed in a facility, or he would have been were it not for a colleague of mine."

Buddy lost count at how many times he had to blink. "What?"

"You're gonna be staying with a family that will watch over you until our friend-" Dicker winked, legitimately winked. "-is ready to have you stay wherever you like, monitored of course, but only for a while."

Buddy stared at the man for a solid minute... before suddenly realizing why he had been pushed out. He wasn't the only who noticed, but Buddy swore the response almost short-circuited his brain.

"Well, we could use the extra help." Bob said with a smile so mischievous, Buddy wondered if he had a hand in making it.

Helen chuckled. "He can't help us if he's still in handcuffs."

Dicker smiled, handing them the key, which Helen gratefully took. "Well, I'm happy to help. It's been a great honor working with you good people."

Bob glanced at Buddy, knowing Dicker meant those words for him as well.

"Thanks for everything." Bob extended his hand, which Dicker shook. "And good luck."

"Yeah, you too." Dicker replied. He turned to Buddy and gave him an encouraging nod, before knocking the metal door of the van. Immediately it moved out of the parking space and drove out of the motel.

Bob and Helen waved, while Buddy stared as the van drove away, leaving him standing there... with his former enemies.


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I do not own The Incredibles. As if that wasn't obvious.**

* * *

So... evidently the rest of the evening went the way Buddy would have expected. Lots and lots of explanations.

Though in ANOTHER shocking turn of events (SERIOUSLY!? HOW MANY SURPRISES COULD THERE BE IN ONE DAY?), Helen had been given the files containing... well, everything the NSA recorded on him. Where she got them is a mystery he was determined to find out.

'I swear if it's Dicker...' He growled the thought.

Buddy's heart practically skipped a beat when he saw that she knew. She _knew_ , and of course, she told her husband the things she had read. Honestly, it would have been better for Buddy if Bob was acting with distrust and anger.

Buddy knew they wanted to talk to him, but he didn't. There would be no point to discuss what had happened. He was confused (yet slightly grateful) when Helen told him that she hadn't told her kids everything about what had happened to him.

Good. He still had some form of privacy, at least. Though he was definitely keeping an eye on the eldest Parr sibling. He knew she was the sharpest one out of the three... the youngest may still a baby but Buddy wasn't taking any chances with that ticking time bomb of an infant. He made that mistake once.

The conversation went on until dinner time. Where Buddy saw the ordered Chinese food at the table, which immediately made his stomach grumble.

 _Real food._

 _'Sweet maple syrup on hot pancakes.'_

Buddy had no idea where that thought came from but he agreed. That wasn't exactly the food that was on the table but it might as well be compared to what he had been forced to eat for the last two months.

Jack-Jack cooed as he was carried by his mother to the table. Buddy noted how Bob put another chair next to him and Dash, no doubt to keep an eye on him.

Grudges die hard, he knew that better than most.

As Helen put Jack-Jack in a red baby chair, Buddy immediately took egg-rolls upon egg-rolls until he realized he had nearly taken half the plate, where seven egg-rolls still lay untouched. There were five on his plate.

He could only freeze as his former enemies stare at him with mix feelings. Bob, Violet, and Dash stared incredulously, while Helen couldn't help but looked at him in amusement. Jack-Jack, lacking any subtlety for obvious reasons, laughed at his predicament.

Internally embarrassed, Buddy began to put some egg-rolls back before he noticed Helen looking at Bob, motioning something.

At his curious stare, Bob spoke. "You can take them. We did buy more for you."

No words left the hero's mouth after that as he started eating.

Buddy felt gratitude sweeping over him, against his judgment, as he stared for a few seconds at the food he had taken, before he raised a hand to take one.

"Did you wash your hands?" He heard Violet.

Was Violet Parr talking him, Buddy Pine aka SYNDROME, like he was a kid?

That was the question that immediately went into his head before he suddenly felt a small breeze, realizing that she had spoken to Dash.

The 10-year-old was back within a second. "With soap?"

Buddy felt the breeze once again as Dash reappeared in his seat. "Did you dry them?"

At that point, the boy was gritting his teeth as he furiously shook his hand. He avoided splashing water onto the food, somehow. Afterward, he immediately put an entire egg-roll into his mouth while glaring at his sister, as if daring her to say another word.

Violet only nodded with a satisfied smile. Before turning to Buddy, who had been staring at the exchange. She only needed to raise an eyebrow for him to understand.

Buddy had a deadpanned look on his face, staring at the 14-year-old...

.

.

.

 _'Just do it, man.'_ Sighing, Buddy stood and walked towards the sink.

While Violet smirked at her small victory, Bob could only stare at her in amazement as the look on his daughter's face greatly resembled his wife's look whenever he, himself, did something wrong. Apparently, Helen thought so too, judging from the proud look on her face.

Buddy sat back in his seat, looking at the girl with the same deadpanned look. Violet only nodded, chewing on a smaller egg-roll she had.

The 15-year-old teenager, because he might as well accept it (he would admit to himself that he had been acting childish during his adulthood... at least now he looked the part), was once again about to dig in. When-

"WHUT!?" Buddy flinched, seeing Dash's shocked face as he looked at the Chinese carton in his hands. "Eesh dis all vechtables? HOO ORDERD ULL VECHTABLES?"

As Buddy guessed, the boy was eating with his mouth full.

"I did," Helen replied calmly. "They're good and you're going to have some." Her tone left no arguments as she scooped the vegetable onto Dash's plate, much to the boy's disappointment.

Buddy had to hold himself from actually lecturing the boy, who was pouting at his mother. At least Dash had a good meal. It was better than what he had eaten back in the facility. True the substances may have been filled with all kinds of nutrients, but that didn't make them better. Buddy reckoned the vegetable Dash was currently picking with his chopsticks tasted better.

After making sure there no longer any interruptions, Buddy finally picked up an egg-roll and ate it.

He could not hold back a small groan of satisfaction from escaping. He never chewed faster in his life as he swallowed and immediately picked up the plate and ate another one.

And another one.

And another.

And another.

Until he realized, as he reached to pick another egg-roll that he had emptied his plate... and again the Parrs stared at him, this time in complete shock.

"Sheesh, you're hungry." Dash chuckled. Jack-Jack laughed in excitement, immediately chewing on a small piece of broccoli. With his four set of teeth.

Buddy couldn't help but ready himself for a more sharper set of teeth to appear, though it seemed the baby wouldn't be turning red anytime soon. Didn't mean he was gonna take any chances.

As he took a napkin and wiped his mouth, Buddy couldn't help but give Dash a dry look.

Great, he was humiliated... and he lost his appetite. Wonderful.

At least most of the food wouldn't go to waste. He deduced that Dash would probably eat more than the rest of them, what with his fast metabolism. Violet might need more food than usual as well but Buddy guessed that she needed the energy only when she was pushed to the brink.

Bob's power involved his strength, so he knew that the man would need all the energy he could get. Although he had grown fat over the years from what Buddy could see three months prior, but that could be because of the civilian life not agreeing with the 40-year-old man.

Helen... honestly the woman was a mystery to him. Judging from the way her body stretched, Buddy guessed that she would still need the food (why was that even a question? he internally face-palmed). After all her energy couldn't just appear out of nowhere, although he was curious if the woman could endure a longer period of time without nutrients. She had survived on Nomanisan and managed to infiltrate his base overnight. And then battling the Omnidroid with her family, after escaping his base, obviously.

Maybe he was looking too much into this...

Buddy's train of thought made him unaware of Violet's calculating gaze.

In the teenager's eyes, she was looking at a boy who would've looked almost normal if she didn't know who he was. From what her mother told her, Buddy's life hadn't been an easy one. It probably still wasn't. But her mother warned her not to touch on the subject unless he was willing to talk about it. Even her father hadn't known everything about Buddy other than what he had seen back then until he had read the boy's records.

And the records weren't even complete.

Despite it all, Violet couldn't picture Buddy as the villainous Syndrome.

In fact, she could no longer picture Syndrome as an evil villain after knowing more about him. More of a tragic villain than anything.

Looking back now only made her realize how broken the boy had been living. The maniacal look was gone and exposed Buddy's other traits. His thinking posture said a thousand words.

Violet knew well enough what normally went on for highly intelligent kids. 'Nerds', as she would always hear at least once a day. It was one of the reasons she had chosen to shy away and be the 'invisible kid' from a social standpoint. True, her self-esteem and lack of confidence were the main factors, but out of all of her family members, Violet could say that she was the most perceptive. Hence, smart. And she wouldn't exactly be wrong.

Speaking of which...

"So, are we going to talk about it?" Violet asked her father, who was still chewing on his food.

"What?" Bob asked, not knowing what his daughter meant.

"The elephant in the room." She blandly replied, as if the answer was obvious.

Apparently, Bob wasn't the only one who didn't know what the girl was talking about as Buddy looked at her curiously, putting his plate back on the table.

"What elephant?" Buddy curiously asked.

Violet only gave him an 'are you serious?' look in response. It took him exactly 10 seconds before he could think of a possible answer.

Then the realization dawned on him. "Ooh, you mean...?" Buddy's eyes rolled to a newspaper and the TV, increasing Bob's confusion. Violet nodded.

"Well, I should g-"

"Sit." Violet plainly said, making the boy do a double-take. "You're involved in this too." She only responded.

Feeling completely lost as to how he should proceed from that response, Buddy just sat there.

Violet looked back to her father, who stared at her in confusion. Her scrutinizing look made Bob nervous, but the man seemed to be unable to give her an answer. As her mother wasn't speaking as well, she simply slumped back.

"I guess not, then." Her tone didn't go unnoticed.

"You're referring to today?" Helen asked though it was hardly a question.

As if a dam had burst, Dash immediately joined in. "Yeah, what's the deal with today?' He asked with a confused demanding look on his face.

"We all made mistakes," Helen answered. "For example, you two were supposed to watch Jack-Jack." She lectured.

'Uh, what?' Buddy couldn't help but think because try as he might, there were many ways Dash and Violet could've been useful. Although he would admit that they still had a lot to learn, as he had saved the former from being crushed by a car.

Nevertheless, they were still supers and at the end of the day, they were going to try and help no matter what. Although he guessed that as parents, they probably wouldn't let their children anywhere near a battlefield. Especially the baby.

Still, he couldn't help but think of how useful... and destructive Jack-Jack could be in a fight.

"Babysitting." Violet spat. "While you guys did the important stuff."

"We talked about this. You're not old enough to decide about these things." Helen immediately replied.

Wow. Now that brought back a familiar yet unwelcome memory. "Excuse me?"

The woman's eyes turned to the boy. "You're different and you know it."

Buddy raised an eyebrow. "You should've said that to me fifteen years ago."

Bob frowned. "That wasn't the same."

"It was." Buddy countered. "I could have helped, but you decided to just practically kick me away. Of course, I had been reckless, but still..." Buddy turned to Violet. "And they're your kids." Buddy pointed out. "Of course they'd try to help you."

"We are old enough to help." Violet agreed.

"Yeah!" Dash jumped in.

"Isn't that what you tell us, Dad?" Violet shot to her father.

"Yeah, well, 'help' can mean many different things-" Bob hesitantly spoke as he failed to get the broccoli with his chopsticks, not knowing how to respond properly to her argument.

"But we're supposed to help if there's trouble." Violet reminded, immediately catching her father off-guard. Buddy couldn't help but pity the man as even he was slightly uncomfortable with the girl's scrutinizing gaze. Albeit slightly amused.

"Well, yeah, but-" Bob tried.

"Aren't you glad we helped today?"

 _'Sheesh, she's determined.'_

"Yeah, I know, but-" Bob tried again.

"You said that you were proud of us."

 ** _'Really determined.'_**

"Well, yeah, I was." Buddy slightly winced over the man's mistake. "Am!" Bob hastily added.

Dash leaned on the table, standing in his chair. "We wanna fight bad guys!"

"AJUBIJUBATGUY!" Jack-Jack babbled while punching the air with an excited look in his face, startling Buddy who braced himself, clearly expecting the baby to wreak havoc. His reaction didn't go unnoticed by the raven-haired teen, who looked at him in confusion.

"No, you don't!" Helen firmly stated, startling the four.

'Why am I still here?' Buddy couldn't help but think.

"You said things were different now." The girl said.

Her glare really unnerved Buddy, for some reason.

"And they were, _on the island_ ," Helen emphasized, immediately making Buddy wish he was somewhere else as he noticed the not-so-subtle glances Dash and Violet shot at him. "But I didn't mean that from now on-"

"So NOW, we gotta go back to 'never using our powers'." Violet's tone clearly didn't help the situation.

"It defines who I am," Dash said.

"We're not saying you have-" Bob paused for a second, as Dash's words suddenly sank in.

"What?/What?" Bob and Buddy exclaimed at the same time, slightly startling Dash.

"Someone on TV said it." Dash sheepishly answered.

"What kind of- you know what? Never mind, I'm not even gonna ask." Buddy raised his hands, clearly not willing to go further.

"Can- can we just eat?" Helen asked though it sounded more like a demand. "The dinner? While it's hot?"

Her tone made Dash slightly nervous, while Violet only glared at her plate, picking at her food. Buddy was just confused and irritated.

This was technically a family discussion ( _'*cough*fight.*cough*'_ He briefly heard) and quite frankly, he had no place in it whatsoever. Though apparently, Violet disagreed as he was somehow 'involved'.

 _'How?'_ The incredulous tone was not lost on that question.

"Did we do something wrong?" Buddy heard Dash ask, looking slightly confused at his mother's reaction.

"Yes./No." Helen's temper briefly flared as she glared at her husband's contradicting answer.

Buddy might as well be in the middle of a war zone at that point.

"We didn't do anything wrong." Bob glaringly said.

"Superheroes ARE illegal," Helen told her children. "Whether it's fair or not, that's the _law_."

"The _law_ should be fair," Bob emphasized. "What are we teaching our kids?" He gestured to his children.

"To respect the LAW!" Helen gently slammed her chopstick on the table.

"Even when the law is disrespectful?!" Bob glared incredulously at his wife.

"If laws are unjust, there are laws to change them!" Helen explained. "Otherwise, it's CHAOS!"

"WHICH IS EXACTLY WHAT WE HAVE!" Bob yelled.

 ***THUD* *CRACK***

The family startlingly turned to Buddy, who was holding a knife that was embedded in the table.

Out of the blue, his face turned maniacal, and Violet was suddenly reminded of the villain she met three months ago.

 **"Hello."** His strange deep tone lacked a certain control that Violet suddenly realized Buddy had. But that didn't explain the sudden change of attitude.

 **"Hehe, nice to see you aga-"** The sinister smile that was just forming suddenly twitched, before Buddy suddenly shook, putting his hands on his head as if in pain. From the look on his face, Dash would've thought he was having a headache if he hadn't heard the way Buddy had said those words.

Somehow the sudden change of emotion in the older boy made Dash more frightened than when Violet had her mood swings.

Jack-Jack, the sweet and slightly innocent baby (in Buddy's eyes), even had a slightly nervous look, as if recognizing the sudden change.

Suddenly, Buddy opened his eyes. His expression changed, now looking more frightened than anything. He instantly began to rub his wrist in panic, as if looking for something.

Slowly he began to take deep breaths. Looking back at the Parrs, he rubbed his head.

"Uh... I just... I... I think I'm gonna go clean up the dishes."

Buddy hastily stood and picked up his plate. "Just put your plates near the sink. I'll... I'll wash them." Buddy paused before looking hesitantly back at them, looking at their surprised and nervous expressions.

"Sorry for the table." Buddy mentally scolded himself, and his guilt-ridden face wasn't as subtle as Violet expected it to be. Or maybe Buddy just didn't care to hide it.

Helen and Bob shared a look. Violet had a sneaking suspicion that she and her brother were being kept in the dark. About what, she didn't know. Yet.

"Bob." Her mother's voice cut through the silence, catching her children's attention as well.

The 40-year-old man turned to his wife and saw her gesturing towards Buddy with worry and fear on her face. Bob didn't realize what was wrong when he looked back at the boy, seeing as he was washing his plate like he said he would until Bob saw Buddy's gaze was fixed on a suitcase that was sitting on the bed, beneath the files containing his information.

And suddenly the temperature in the room seemed to drop.

Helen, bless her, immediately finished her food and went towards the former villain. Strangely, Violet noticed, her mother was blocking Buddy's view of the suitcase he was just staring at.

The teenage girl slowly turned her gaze to the case, wondering what the big deal was with it. On the one hand, she was aware that she probably wouldn't get anything much from her parents.

'On the other hand...'

Violet's thoughts, and eyes, turned towards the knife that was still embedded on the food table. Asking Buddy may not be the best idea at the moment. So she decided to go with the first option.

"Dad?" Bob's attention turned to his daughter, immediately seeing the concern and curiosity in her eyes.

He opened his mouth to say something, anything, to keep her from knowing. It was a parent's job to protect their child yet Bob knew that Violet would eventually figure it out by herself. He felt that in this case, it was better to know sooner rather than later.

"I'll tell you later," Bob made sure he was whispering, which did not help the suspicion from leaving Violet's eyes.

"Or your mother will." Bob hurriedly added. "Just... not now, sweetie. Please?"

The pleading look, and the fright in those eyes. Those weren't emotions Robert Parr often display, especially in such a glaring way. Even Dash noticed.

"Ok." Violet sighed, exhausted from the argument. But as she stood up, holding her plate, a question wouldn't leave her mind.

Looking back at her father she asked. "How much longer in the motel, dad?"

His daughter's sullen question suddenly brought up another dreaded subject. And he couldn't help but hesitate to answer. "Uh..."

"Not much longer, honey." The answer came from Helen as she walked back to the table, picking up her plate, before glancing at Dash. Her 10-year-old son still had most of his food untouched.

Wanting to get it over with, the boy ate at a rapid pace. He practically swallowed the food whole, although that may have been the super speed. "Done!"

Dash's sudden cheerful tone was not lost on his family. But her brother didn't bother to stay as he suddenly dashed away, putting his plate near the sink and appeared on the bed. He reached for the remote and turned on the TV.

Violet tried hard not to frown when she noticed that her brother had slightly paused while reaching for the remote, glancing at the suitcase that suddenly gained an ominous hue.


	4. Chapter 4

**A shorter chapter, for now. Life is hectic, to put it short. The writer's block is strong with this one... kudos to those who get that reference. Heh.**

 **Apparently in my specific college, in the last semester, you have to take an On-The-Job Training or an Internship at a certain company of your choosing for 3 months at a minimum. So that's been hectic and nerve-racking.**

 **Warning: There is a certain dark theme in a certain part of this chapter.**

 **And using a title word from an upcoming movie... ONWARDS!**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own The Incredibles. As if that wasn't obvious.**

* * *

The way he was sitting near the bed, leaning against the wall, with his hands crossed on his raised knees deeply reminded Violet of how she used to sulk in her room in misery. Then again, being a teenager was a nightmare. But Buddy was not exactly a normal teenager, and he was not sulking in misery as a teen should. He was just staring at the case.

The case that was currently resting on an armchair that was conveniently placed beside the bed, on the opposite side of Buddy's position. This meant that his stare was caught by the three young individuals who were currently trying to relax on said bed.

Violet didn't know what she was so worried about. It wasn't as if the former villain was looking at them. Just their general direction.

Somehow that reasoning did not make the situation any better.

Even Dash was having a hard time watching the TV. The boy just couldn't focus his gaze on the screen. His eyes almost constantly flickering the almost still form on the wall. Violet even noticed her brother occasionally twitching before remembering his mother's words to not 'poke the bear'. In a manner of speaking.

Jack-Jack had no subtlety whatsoever with his eyes blatantly fixed on the Pine, blabbering words as if to catch the older boy's attention. Violet lost count as to how many times she had to hold her baby brother back from crawling to the edge of the bed, clearly trying to reach the subject of his interest.

Whether Buddy noticed the attention he was getting or not, Violet was frankly too cautious to assume he wouldn't react violently to physical interaction.

"Jack-Jack!" Violet whispered as loud as she could.

Her baby brother immediately turned his attention from Buddy.

"Stay." Violet made sure she had her strict face on, something that usually made Jack-Jack laugh more than anything. That didn't happen, however.

Instead... "Buh-bee."

Violet swore her heart skipped a beat, and she was not imagining Dash straightening up all of a sudden.

'How-?'

"Gugh!" Buddy's sudden cry startled the siblings, though Violet managed to maintain her facade. Dash turned his neck so fast Violet would've scolded him for nearly giving himself a whiplash if she wasn't so tense.

When before he was just sitting quietly against the wall, now Buddy clutched his head as if he was having a very painful headache. And before Violet could say anything, he stood and shook his head.

Violet made sure her brothers were close to her, which they were. She noticed Dash slowly positioning himself beside her.

'Good.' She didn't know if she was fast enough to raise a shield if Buddy went violent, but she would try. He didn't seem as focused as he had been during the fight with the police.

Suddenly, Buddy opened his eyes and turned towards the three other occupants of the room.

"I need air."

He didn't give them time to respond before pulling the door open.

 **X**

The couple was sitting by the pool when Buddy came out of the motel room. He tried to walk towards them, to explain, to say anything. But his body froze. He couldn't move despite how much the desire was there.

They looked so exhausted, just sitting there, slumped. And so...

This wasn't how he had pictured them, even though he knew superheroes had their own real identities. But he always- he often needed a reminder of how...

How...

Human.

Yes, that was the word he was looking for. He was reminded of how these people, with all their powers, were _people_. Like he once had been. Just an ordinary kid.

It felt so wrong to see them like this. Buddy didn't understand how or why but it did. Yet he understood, somewhat, what they were going through. He knew those looks well. Too well.

He didn't want to be there. He didn't want to see them like this. It would've been so much easier if he had still been the villain. He would've been so happy to see them wallow in their misery if he was still Sy-

Buddy flinched.

He needed to talk to them. He needed to tell them how serious this was. They read the files but reading about the events and experiencing the actual disaster were two different things. And there was no chance he was gonna let **him** out just to prove a point.

 _ **'As if you have a choice.'**_

 **X**

"What are we gonna do?"

Bob sighed as he slumped in his seat beside his wife. He couldn't think properly. With everything that's happened, the utter downfall of it all, he needed more than a day to think. But his family didn't have much time.

"I don't know." His words were uttered such defeat.

Helen wanted to help him in any way she could but to do that they needed to find the solution first. And so far, they were coming up with nothing.

"Maybe Dicker will find something?" His words didn't come out as optimistic as he wanted.

"Dicker is done, Bob." Helen pointed out with a strict tone. The reality of their situation truly dawned on them the moment those words were uttered.

This wasn't like when Supers were deemed illegal because then they had had help from the NSA to adjust to civilian life. But this time, they had nothing and after two weeks they would be forced to leave the motel and try to survive. With what little they have.

"Any thought we have about being Supers again is fantasy." Once again her words brought another sore subject.

'Things were just going well.' Bob thought. Dicker did say that Supers were just being considered to be made legal. The chances had been minimum but it had been there.

"One of us has gotta get a job." Helen reminded.

Bob immediately became agitated. "One of us?"

His words weren't meant to hurt her, Helen knew. Bob's frustration was the result of another issue he had been dealing with.

"You did a long stint at Insuricare."

"Hated every minute of it."

His obvious whining tone was not lost as Helen smiled in understanding. Her husband had told her the truth of how he had been forced to work.

Bob hadn't had much of a choice. He had needed to provide earnings for his family, despite how corrupt his boss had been.

"I know it was hard on you. Maybe it's my turn in the private sector and you take care of the kids-"

Bob interrupted. "No, I'm doing this."

Despite her genuine offer to help, Bob couldn't bear to have her work like that. Granted, she may not work at Insuricare, specifically, but even then he had been morally challenged.

The decisions he had been forced to make left emotional scars. On more than one occasion it was either make someone else's life even harder than his or watch his own family be miserable. Despite how many times he had managed to get away with actually helping, he still had to make tough decisions now and then.

He didn't need to look at Helen to know she was concerned.

"I need to do this." Bob firmly said. "Do you know where my suit and ties are?"

It didn't take a second before Helen immediately spoke. "Burned up when-"

"The jet destroyed our house." They both finished.

Helen chuckled. "Yeah."

Bob weakly smiled.

"AGH!" Bob and his wife startlingly turned.

They immediately saw Buddy standing not far from them, eyes clenched shut, teeth gritted, one hand gripping his head. Bob immediately became alert when the boy opened his eyes with a screaming expression of panic.

Helen instantly stood and moved to approach Buddy before he met her halfway. "Open it."

Those words instantly brought a wave of dread into the married couple.

"No." Helen's stern answer, coupled with her fierce look, could have worked on Bob. Yet it didn't faze Buddy, more afraid of what might happen than caring for the morality of his situation.

"You don't understand-"

"There haven't been any-" Helen was immediately interrupted.

"Then WHAT do you think THAT was?!"

Their hearts ached as they saw Buddy with genuine raw terror in his eyes.

"At the table?! When-" Buddy stopped, raising his shooked hands to his face before taking a deep breath.

"Look..." The boy was practically begging, without any care that they had once been enemies. "Look... I... I know- I know that it's not the most effective method. It's not, I know that. I do. It's just... It keeps... It stops the problem from getting bigger. It keeps **him**..."

He gestured a shaking hand to his chest as if frightened of what was inside.

The boy Bob remembered would never have struggled to make the words come out of his mouth. But this wasn't the same Buddy Pine he knew. This was the Buddy Pine that had gone through hell and back. And Bob would even say that the boy was still going through that hell.

"Please..."

He had tears in his eyes. Genuine tears. With his frightened look, Helen couldn't stop herself from thinking of her children. How they would deal with this kind of problem. But that was the thing, they didn't. They had loving parents. A real family.

Buddy had endured 15 years with practically no one. And now he was forced to deal with his problem. He **had** found a way to deal with it but in the worse way possible.

'They didn't even care to think about what might happen to him. How it would affect him.' That was the thought that went through Helen's head.

The suits, as Bob tend to call them, often forget that just because they were supers, didn't mean that they weren't people. They had feelings. They had issues. They can get sick.

They needed help from time to time.

And they weren't indestructible.

But the higher-ups, as Rick would have called them, didn't even hesitate to agree with Buddy's idea of a 'failsafe'.

Helen couldn't, for the life of her, see how this sort of 'failsafe' could've been approved. But it had been. And it made her sick.

It was the same as putting a shock collar on an already sick dog.

"Buddy." The boy turned to the woman. Helen had genuine sadness in her eyes as if she didn't want to utter the words she wanted to say, so scared of how he would react.

But she did because she had to. "We can't."

Buddy's stomach dropped.

They didn't know. They didn't _understand_. He needed to convince them, he had to.

Just as Bob saw Buddy about to argue, he heard a clicking sound. He wasn't the only one as Helen immediately became confused at the sudden interruption.

The three instantly became alert, watching their surroundings.

Immediately they saw a glimpse of a person approached them from the parking lot. Or, as they noticed again, two figures.

 **X**

"So... are we going to... talk about it?"

This time, it was Dash who asked the question.


End file.
